A Long Way From Home
by Flaeus Baril
Summary: 18 year-old Nathan Beixiong is forced through one of Raven Branwen's portals during a fight and ends up stranded on Tatooine. Wandering through the Desert he stumbles upon Qui-Gon Jinn and Padme Amidala as they make their way to Mos Espa. Will this unlikely group be able to help each other, or will Nathan be stuck in a galaxy far, far away with no way home?
1. Chapter 1

"Dammit Raven!" was all I could shout as I saw her open a portal to who knew where beneath me. I'd always hated fighting her. Especially when it came up in life or death situations. She knew how to manipulate my Semblance with her own to the point where she could play me like a damn harp. _Nothing for it now but through_ , was all I could think before plowing through the portal at terminal velocity and appearing over a large desert that looked like it was either outside of Vacuo or Kuo Koana.

As the ground rushed to meet me, all I could think was, _this is gonna hurt._ I was right. It was all I could do to not scream as I landed too hard to roll and felt something give in my left leg with a sound not unlike the snapping of a green twig.

After what felt like an eternity but what my watch said was five minutes of writhing on the ground, I was finally able to look and see what the damage was. The minute I pulled my hand away, I knew I was in trouble. I had a rather nasty looking compound fracture on my right lower leg, and nothing to help me set it except my bare hands, my knives, and any knowledge I had on combat medicine in emergency situations.

"And Yang thought I was being paranoid when I enrolled in those emergency medicine classes." I said to myself in a huff, "Guess what Yang, your boyfriend is about to walk out of this damn desert after setting his own leg and giving it twenty-four hours to heal after Aura channeling like you can barely imagine"

A new determination to be able to jokingly rub the necessity of emergency trauma care helping to dull the pain, I began crawling in the direction of what looked to be a metal comm tower about fifteen feet tall. Upon reaching the tower, which had a few stabilizing rods driven into dirt near its foundation, I gingerly maneuvered my right foot through so that it would be immobile when pulled against. Taking _Ai_ , one of my combat knives, in my teeth by the hilt, I took three deep breaths, preparing breaths before quickly yanking my leg away from the tower and backing out from the pain.

Coming to my senses, I found myself face down in the dirt with my right foot slightly elevated behind me and a dull ache in that same leg. Looking back, I was elated to find that the bone had been set, and my rather depleted Aura had already closed the wound. The major life threat taken care of and healing, I noticed a sizeable collection of bruises all over my body, both from my ass kicking at the hands of Raven Branwen, and the subsequent fall onto desert hardpan from a rather considerable height.

 _Speaking of_ … I looked around to try and gauge how far from civilization I was this time. Looking around I noticed that everything that was high enough to cast a shadow had a subtle double shadow, which shouldn't happen since I'm not in a stadium, and there aren't any spotlights.

"What the hell?" was all I could muster when I looked up and saw not one, but two suns shining down from where should be about 3 in the afternoon. I was about to dismiss it as a delusion from a concussion that I surely had after that fight and fall, before logic took over and I took the evidence that was present to realize that I was a hell of a lot farther from home than I thought.

"Where the hell am I?" was the thought that kept running through my head and out of my mouth as I tried to figure out where I was. All I could think of was getting home and back to my friends and Yang. The thought of her brought me up short.

 _I am so dead. Wonder what Yang is going to think when she finds out that her mom sent me to a fucking differe…wait._ My entire rant against my girlfriend's mother came to a screeching halt as something else occurred to me. _I'm on a completely alien planet, where I'm assuming no one from Remnant other than Raven has never been, and I just used a clearly artificial construct to reset my… Who the hell built this damn thing?!_ Again, I paused as yet another undeniable point finally sank through my disbelief. _Okay, so clearly there is intelligent life here, guess I'm gonna have to apologize to Ruby whenever I get back to Remnant._

As I ruefully thought about my coming confession and apology to a certain peppy 16-year-old, there was a screech overhead before a large, silver airship that looked Atlesian went flying overhead. _Finally, someone I can hopefully communicate with!_ Running after the only sign of civilization, I was hoping to not scare any of the locals; and I desperately wanted to keep my chance at potentially getting at home.

After about twenty minutes of running in the direction of the ship and desperately praying to any deity that would listen that the ship hadn't changed direction after I had lost sight of it ten minutes prior, I found it over a low ridge. By the time I had caught up to the ship, they seemed to have landed near a rather sizeable town in the middle of the desert. On second glance, the ship seemed similar to other Atlesian airships that I had both seen and been in, but was far sleeker.

After about an hour of observing them to try and determine whether they were friendly, I saw what looked like a long-haired human, which surprised me, since we were on a different planet; a large amphibian looking humanoid, and what I can only call a rolling trash can. I figured that now would be a good a time as any and introduce myself.

Before I could though, another pair of humans left the ship and called out to the other group in Valian, which brought me up short. "Wait!" the one on the left called out. The rest of their conversation was too quiet for me to hear, the distraction allowed me to get around and in front of the group.

As I came closer to the group seeming to be in argument, my Semblance activated. I knew that the darker skinned man would be turning back to the ship, while the other four were going to step out. What surprised me was that the other man, who I could see much more clearly, was the only person that I couldn't get a read on; it felt like he was shrouded from my Semblance. This made me pause, wondering what was going on and who the one person I would have trouble with was. Still, I knew I needed to make myself known.

"Hey there!" I called out to them when they came into easy speaking distance. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

The group had rather different, if slightly comical expressions. The old man had a look of rather tired exasperation, while his orange companion shrieked and threw his hands up in the air quite comically. Problem was, I knew he was going to be someone I wanted to avoid since he would be no end of annoyance. The girl on the other hand, had the most intriguing expression cross her face. She had a look of guarded suspicion and a sense of superiority that I had only seen and felt in Yang and Ruby's white-haired teammate, Weiss.

"What can we do for my young friend?" called out the old man quite cordially. Despite this, I could tell that he was trying to move closer if things came to blows.

"For starters, you could stay out of reach," I responded a little coolly, just so that he knew that I was aware of what he was attempting to do. "But aside from that, I'm a little lost. Problem is that I know you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"And why would that be?" the young woman replied quite icily. Which caused me to smirk

 _Yeah, total nobility at least, probably royalty._ I thought with a silent chuckle. _Let's have some fun then, "_ Because your Highness," both visibly tensed at this, confirming my thoughts. "Unless you can believe that I teleported here in the middle of a battle, fell more than a thousand feet with only a slight compound fracture that I set and was able to run on twenty minutes later, have no idea what planet I'm on, then there is no point in me even relating my story." The absolutely rage filled face of the young woman was only matched by the serene face of the older man, which surprised me.

"That is quite the tale young man," the young man stated with a serenity that mildly annoyed me. "is there anyway that you can validate your claims?"

I just chuckled, then winked at the young woman, who scowled and looked away. "look at me," I said gesturing to my attire; Brown steel toed boots, Dark jeans, an unbuttoned, light blue flannel and an ice blue beanie over my white hair and secondary ears that I would no doubt be questioned incessantly over when they were revealed. Under the flannel was a leather shoulder holster slung under my right arm, a white V-neck t-shirt, and a sheath for one knife on my belt at the small of my back and another on my right hip. "do I look like a local?"

"No, but you definitely don't look all that trustworthy to me." This rather scathing remark came from the young woman to my right.

"Again Princess," yet another flinch. "I have no reason to say anything unless you want to believe something truly unbelievable." The snort I received as a reply was all the answer that I needed from her. Turning to the old man again, I continued. "Apologies, but I have a slight attitude problem." A smirk followed but he stayed silent, so I continued. "But I have no idea what is going on. To be honest, I don't even know how to get home." As we talked, my voice went from slightly mocking to a much more docile tone. "I guess I should intro duce myself, since I'm the one asking for help. I'm Nathan Beixiong."

"Qui-Gon Jinn, At your service." The old man replied.

"Meesa Jar-Jar Binks" the rather animatable orange amphibian said.

I turned and looked at the young woman, who seemed rather irate with me and not all willing to offer her own name. I just gave her a vaguely apologetic look and attempted to offer an olive branch of sorts. "Look, I apologize for calling you Your Highness; as I said I have a bit of an issue with those who think themselves better simply because of influence, birth, or wealth." At this I received a scoff and eyeroll that just reminded me more of Weiss. I gave her a small, but sincere smile in return. ", would you prefer a rather mocking nickname? Or something a little more appropriate and respectful, such as your name?"

She seemed to think it over for a minute before turning to Qui-Gon, "what do you think, Master Jedi?"

 _The hell is a Jedi?_ I thought looking between them while Qui-Gon considered her question. _Counselor? Body guard? No matter._ I looked to Qui-Gon as he seemed to come out of his deliberation.

"I sense nothing dark or sinister in his purpose, milady." He spoke slowly, as if weighing his words carefully. "I feel as if this young one was placed into our path for a reason."

Her face twisted into an even deeper scowl as she responded, "I do not believe the queen would appreciate you adding yet another…"

Her scowl deepened as Qui-Gon cut her off, "the queen will have to trust my judgement on this, young handmaiden." I simply looked between them in utter confusion.

 _Handmaiden? Queen? What have I stumbled onto?_ As I finished my musings, I tuned back into their conversation.

"You assume much, Master Jedi." She said in a dangerously icy tone, "perhaps too much. I will not allow you to endanger all of us simply to satisfy your curiosity!" she declared rather vehemently.

Qui-Gon simply gave her a level look and spoke as if speaking to a young child, "Milady, I will not allow him to enter the ship; nor will I allow this young man to jeopardize our purpose here." His voice seemed to harden, as if stating a decision that would not be swayed. "I simply would like to get to know this young man and see if there is a way for him to return home. Please do not think of me as a fool because I make decisions beyond your understanding."

Sighing heavily, the young woman looked to me and finally said, "My name is Padme Naberrie." She turned to glare at Qui-Gon, "I hope you know what you are doing."

Smirking, he turned away and began walking to the town. But as we began trekking I heard him mutter quietly under his breath, "As do I, as do I."

After about ten minutes of awkward silence, I finally turned to Padme, saw the distracted frown that graced her features, and thought better of asking her anything. Instead, I turned to the man leading us into town, "Qui-Gon, what is a Jedi?" I asked innocently. "I've never heard of that term before today."

Our entire group stopped for a minute and simply stared at me silently as if I had stated that the sky was red instead of blue. After a time of increasingly uncomfortable silence, we continued our way; while Qui-Gon began to speak after gathering his thoughts. "A Jedi is someone who has a stronger connection to the force than most other beings in the galaxy," he began, sounding like this was something he had not had to explain in quite a while. The problem was that it was simply confusing me even more.

He continued, "we are trained in the ways of the force. These skills include telekinesis, the ability to sense the thoughts of others, and enhanced senses and reflexes." As he turned towards me, I could do nothing but stare at him in mild confusion. At the same time, I decided to spare one of my companions from a rather embarrassing situation. "Jar Jar," I stated without looking towards the mind-numbing amphibian. "you might want to watch your step." As he looked down, he noticed the animal manure that he was about to step in.

"Oh! Thank yous, meesa muy muy thankful to you sir," he practically gushed.

Smirking and turning back to Qui-Gon, I didn't miss the look that Padme was giving me. Nor did I misread the look that Qui-Gon was giving me. "What?" I asked rather innocently. "I figured he wouldn't want manure on the bottom of his foot."

Qui-Gon gave me a look that clearly said he wanted a further explanation. "And how did you know it was there when you were looking in the almost opposite direction of him?" he asked with a slightly suspicious tone.

"My Semblance," was my simple statement in reply. Strange looks were all I was given. "Well, that and my sense of smell." This statement seemed to confuse them even more.

Padme was the first to break the silence. "What is a Semblance?" she asked, slightly confused, and more than a little curious. Qui-Gon seemed to give me a more guarded, suspicious look, but allowed Padme to continue. "Actually, where are you even from? You seem quite adamant we won't believe your story, and since we will be spending time around each other, we might as well hear it and judge for ourselves, don't you think?" At this she seemed almost eager to disprove my story, which the Faunus in me took as a challenge that I readily accepted.

"Before we begin," I started with a tone of finality, "I would ask that you hold any and all questions until I finish." Despite the slightly crestfallen look on Padme's face, she nodded her consent. Looking to Qui-Gon, he gave a single nod for me to proceed. "The planet that I live on is called Remnant, and please don't ask where it is because I have no clue. My civilization is actually has never been to space," At this I got disbelieving looks from all present, even a disbelieving warble from the rolling trash can. Nevertheless, I continued, "The reason that we haven't tried to get to space is that our technology is geared more towards overall survival than that of scientific curiosity, or demand for more resources."

I continued with the history of Remnant, both the official and the original legend. I explained the two different races and the history between humans and Faunus, but neglected to mention I was one. As I was describing the Grimm and the discovery of Dust, and its properties, I could see that all were curious as to what it was. In example, I pulled out _Heping;_ my .45 caliber Dust pistol, and removed one of the cartridges.

As I did so, both Padme's and Qui-Gon's eyebrows went almost to their hairlines for some unknown reason, _probably just surprised I was armed. Its kina hard to see this pistol under my shirt._ Grabbing the bullet itself between my teeth, I pried it out of the brass cartridge that held the Burn and lightning dust combination that acted as the propellant. Pouring it into my hand I held it out to them, saying "this combination is more powerful since it is a personal mixture to help with handling Grimm since they have rather thick bone masks over their faces. Dust itself comes in crystals that spontaneously regenerate and are constantly mined to be refined."

At the mention that Dust was a spontaneously forming crystal that would regenerate before the refining process, he started to do something odd with his belt.

"Would you mind if I took a small sample of this 'Dust' as you call it?" he asked, expression carefully guarded preventing me from discerning what he was after. "I have a suspicion as to what it may be, but I would like to be sure." As he finished he pulled a small device that looked like a tv remote before pulling a small slot open in the base and after collecting a small sample, pressed a button on its face before speaking. "Obi-wan, can you hear me?"

"Yes Master," a voice responded, slightly tinny from the small speaker. "what do you need?"

"I need an analysis of a sample I am sending you." He said, sounding rushed and vaguely nervous at whatever his thoughts were. "can you tell me what it is?"

"Of course, Master" the voice, Obi-wan, responded. "One moment."

While we waited for the analysis to come back, Qui-Gon questioned me about Dust, its properties, and the different kinds that were known on Remnant. After about ten minutes of this line of questioning, Obi-Wan called us back on what must have been their version of a scroll.

"Master, where did you say you found this?" he asked almost hesitantly.

"A new friend," was his short reply.

"Well we might want to let the Council know about your new friend," Obi-Wan responded. It seems he has access to an unknown variant of Kyber Crystal." At this, Qui-Gon's expression turned grave. Obi-Wan continued, oblivious to his mood, "I've never even seen a kyber crystal this pure," he stated in mild disbelief. "Kyber crystals generally have imperfections and impurities, don't they?"

"they do, Obi-Wan" Qui-Gon stated gravely. "We are almost to the spaceport, we will contact you when we have located the parts we need."

"Very well," was Obi-Wan's curt reply.

Putting away his communicator, Qui-Gon turned to me and the expression on his face would have given even a Goliath pause. "Nathan," he started, his voice like steel, "You have been nothing but open with us, but for me to continue to trust you; I must ask for your permission to search your mind."

 _Search my mind?_ I thought incredulously, _Is he serious? How the hell will he be able to do that?_ Aloud I asked, "how do you plan on doing that?"

"along with more physical abilities than the norm for any race, the Force also allows us to communicate telepathically, sense the emotions and surface thoughts, and determine the intentions of others." He stated simply, to my growing disbelief, followed by anger.

"So, you mean to tell me, that you have been following along more by reading my mind than listening?" I asked, incredulity and anger turning my words scathing. "is there anything your 'Force' can't do?" the look I leveled on him probably would have lit an ursa on fire just from the heat of it.

Qui-Gon however, was less affected by my glare, and almost dismissive of my anger. "I cannot read more than immediate thoughts without a lot of effort, and doing so without harming you and escaping your notice would take more focus than I can afford at the moment. What I am asking is for your permission to simply find memories of this world you speak of."

"Would this allay and suspicions of whatever you now believe about me?" I asked with an icy tone. "And along those lines, will you explain what in the name of Oum you are searching for afterwards?" Seeing his hesitance at this request I continued, "it's the only way I will let you do this. And I know friends whose semblances involve manipulating the mind in different ways. I will know if you try anything."

When he acquiesced, we moved to a small collection of rocks that were large enough to sit comfortably on, despite the desert suns. Placing himself across from me, he stated, "when I begin, you will be able to both feel, and follow me through your mind. If there are topics you would like me to avoid, simply raise a wall to notify me."

Nodding my acceptance, I felt him enter my mind. After a few minutes of him searching mostly through my time at Signal, Beacon, and any information I had of Dust, he withdrew. Opening my eyes, I could see that he had been severely taxed by the exercise. Looking to Padme, I stated simply, "we need to get him out of this heat and into shade with access to water." She nodded and we each took one arm and began to quickly but gingerly began to make our way to the "spaceport" as Qui-Gon called it.


	2. Chapter 2

A Long Way from Home

Chapter 2

After About another twenty minutes of walking and probably two hours after I had walked up and introduced myself, we arrived in town with Qui-Gon hanging off my shoulder. Finding what looked to be a nearby eatery we immediately found the table with the most shade, where I gingerly lowered him into a chair while Padme asked for water from what I am assuming was the waiter.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I looked Qui-Gon up and down for signs of heat stroke. Luckily it seemed he was just exhausted.

"I will be fine," he responded a little breathily. "But delicately combing through another's mind like that is something that is far more difficult for me than I would like. But I will say this Nathan, I truly believe what you say when you describe this world you come from."

Smirking I simply replied, "about time someone didn't think I was crazy, I was on the fence myself for a while."

Sharing a brief laugh, we both turned to the rest of the group as Padme returned with glasses of water. It took me a second to notice as I was too busy with greedily sipping on my water; but when I looked at her again to make sure she was drinking it hit me. "Padme," I started, getting her attention. "Wasn't your hair up in a slightly elaborate hairdo like five minutes ago?" at this she simply scowled.

"I had to barter with the manager for the water with my hairclip," she stated in slight disgust and more than a little fear. "I was told that the shop didn't accept Republic Detaries so I had to find something else to pay with." The look on her face said enough about what they needed from this place.

"What were you looking to purchase here?" I asked, the look I was given was something that said I wasn't supposed to know that. Looking over at Qui-Gon, I gave an exasperated sigh and nearly shouted at the both of them, "Look, I get that you are trying to keep a low profile. But if after he," at this I pointed straight at Qui-Gon, "ran through my head to prove that I what I said was true, you still don't trust me we might as well part ways."

The look that passed between Qui-Gon and Padme were expressive and very telling. I could tell that Padme was still reluctant to trust me but because Qui-Gon had looked through my mind, she was willing to trust him.

"Very well," Qui-Gon said after a brief pause to collect his thoughts and look around to see if anyone was within earshot. "We are escorting the Queen of Naboo, a sovereign planet, to Coruscant; the capitol of the Galactic Republic. A nation of Worlds, working together to better the Galaxy." Seeing my silence, he continued; "her planet is under illegal occupation by the Trade Federation. A conglomerate of companies that have banded together to protect their profits."

"So, what you're telling me," I began, making sure to think each word out before saying anything stupid. "is that you are attempting to use democracy to ensure a peaceful solution to an act of war against a sovereign nation." By the time I had finished speaking, my voice had turned from slightly confused to an absolute disbelieving deadpan.

At this point, Padme joined the conversation. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the tone in my voice as she stated with obvious hope, "Exactly! The queen is hoping that the senate will be able to force the Federation to cease their blockade and invasion of the planet."

Looking at her honest belief with absolute incredulity, I turned to Qui-Gon, "You are seriously letting her believe that if she brings this to a politician that it will actually be fixed?" I asked, completely flabbergasted that someone who was clearly well traveled would allow a damn monarch to believe in a fairy tale.

The look I received in return was one of mild disappointment. "You believe that nothing is going to come of this journey?" he asked, as if daring me to disagree with him.

Not one to back down from reality, I quickly responded. "the only thing that the Queen is going to get is a damn wake up call." Turning to Padme I gave her an almost pleading look before continuing. "Please, if you are ever going to trust me about anything, let it be this. Politicians care about one thing, keeping those who funded their elections happy. They don't care who gets hurt or what happens otherwise."

"You can't believe that," Padme responded quickly, face dark with emotion. "At heart people are kind and genero…" she trailed off as I began to chuckle darkly.

"You honestly think that people are kind, generous, and selfless?" I asked, contempt clear in my voice. "Let me tell you a story from my home." I shot a glare that promised pain and suffering to Qui-Gon as he moved to interrupt. "No, she needs to wake up to reality, better here than in the senate when her hopes are completely crushed." Turning back to Padme who had a rather defiant look on her face I continued.

"Do you remember that there were two races on my planet?" she nodded, so I kept rolling. "There are humans, like you; and the Faunus. While humans are the more populous species, the Faunus still have a sizeable population spread throughout my world. My family is from the northernmost kingdom. It's a cold, barren wasteland that a large tribe of Faunus call home. At least they did." At this my voice began to tighten and become strained. "120 years ago, humans came to our shores and immediately began to take over, seeing themselves as a superior race simply due to their technology, and, as they put it, their 'sophistication'. They drove my people from their homes onto the frozen tundra."

As tears began to stain the table in front of me I smiled sadly, "not all humans I've known are like that. One man I knew was the kindest person I have yet to meet, he placed my parents in a position of prestige in his company. They ran the largest Dust mine in the world, and were good at it. He set aside trusts for both me and my sister to be able to go to any school we wished. It's because of him that I had the opportunity to train to fight Grimm." Here the smile turned bitter, "when he died and his son in law took over, life went to hell very quickly. He couldn't stand Faunus. He removed my parents from their position that they earned, persuaded the local government to practically eliminate Faunus rights, and basically enslaved his work force." At this, I removed my beanie which revealed my ears, and both shirts; revealing the end of my story. On my back, just over my right shoulder, were deep, ugly scars that ran from my shoulder to my left hip. "Those scars aren't ones I got fighting, I said with venom. "Those are from fucking whips!"

Turning back around after replacing my clothing, my vision cleared for the first time since beginning the story and I looked to Padme, who had a look of absolute defeat. Shaking my head sadly, I simply stated, "people in general don't look out for each other. You will find good individuals on occasion, but I both envy and pity you if they are all you've ever known. They are the exceptions" with that last comment, I turned and left the table for open air outside.

Sometime later, QG appeared and gave me a look that was a mixture of pity, which I hated entirely, and disappointment. "It seems you have allowed yourself to become more than a little jaded, my young friend," he stated neutrally.

"Perhaps," I responded equally as coolly. "But this way allows me to be pleasantly surprised as opposed to constantly disappointed."

"Still," he began again, turning to me, "did you really feel the need to destroy a 14-year old's innocence in such a dramatic manner?" his tone at that question stopped whatever snide remark I had been about to respond with. Instead, I began to think more clearly and hung my shoulders dejectedly.

"No. No I did not." I sighed, looking back at the old man, and asked, "Where is she? I need to apologize."

"Still inside," he responded with an approving tone to his voice. "she asked me to bring both Jar Jar and R2-D2 outside to wait with you while she contacted the Queen."

"R2-D2?" I asked, slightly confused.

"The droid," was the only reply I received.

 _Must be the designation for the trash can with wheels. Better remember that for later._

Ten minutes later, Padme walked out. "the Queen wishes to still continue on to Coruscant," here she paused and shot me a look that would have turned me to ash if looks could kill before continuing. "However, she is aware of the possibility that things will be more difficult than hoped.

Taking that as better than blind optimism, I turned to QG. "Where to now?"

"Now, we go looking for the parts we need." He responded with a slightly disdainful tone that spoke of a deep-seated hatred for bartering. 'We should probably try one of the smaller dealers to stay inconspicuous." At this, I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Don't worry QG, bartering and haggling are practically tribal sports," I stated elatedly with a huge grin on my face as I cracked my knuckles. The smile seemed to be contagious, since about a minute later both QG and Padme looked satisfied, if not cheerful. _Well, it seems that thinking of hustling a hustler has at least one other person happy_ , I quietly thought to myself. The look I received from QG told me that he heard me anyway, causing me to give him a mock scowl. "Alright then old man," I stated jokingly. "lead us to our victim of choice." The giggle I got from Padme began to make me a little happier, until I remembered what I had just done to her innocence.

About an hour later, Qui-Gon led us into the last shop that we were going to be able to hit before everything closed for the evening and we would have to head back to the ship. Stepping inside, I could immediately see piles of parts and wires that littered every corner and available place in the shop. "Looks like we finally found the right place," I said to myself tiredly.

"No kidding," came an answer from my right. Turning to see the 9-year old who had responded I simply smiled, a gesture he happily returned before a gravelly voice called out from deeper in the shop. "Oops, gotta run!" he exclaimed before scampering off with the typical energy of a little kid.

Shaking my head and saying something under my breath about 'damn kids these days,' I leisurely followed. Rounding a rack full of what looked to be computer consoles, I caught the tail end of a question that made me smile

"…ou an angel?" The kid seemed to be asking Padme if she was some sort of creature that lived on a moon somewhere elsewhere in the Galaxy. Subtly shaking my head and smiling, I moved deeper into the shop; careful to keep an ear tuned to Padme's conversation with the boy.

It continued for a while before I heard her ask, "you're a slave?" The question itself poured ice water into my veins, while the boy's reply both kindled approval, and rage for the alien with whom Qui-Gon was speaking.

"My name is Anakin, and I'm a person."

"I'm sorry," came her quiet response. Her voice sounded even more dejected than when she had last spoken to me outside the restaurant. "Everything is so different from where I grew up."

"It's okay," he said. "Someday, I'm going to fly away from this place and never look back." The conviction in his voice surprised me, but also filled me with hope. "Then when I get free, I'm going to come back and free every slave here." That statement brought me up short, and all I could do was sigh.

Before I could interrupt the rather determined kid, Qui-Gon came storming passed and offered little explanation other than a curt "We're leaving."

Saying a quick goodbye to Anakin, we followed Qui-Gon out of the shop and into the street.

"What was that about?" Padme asked, more than a little annoyed at the rather rude handling of the Jedi.

"Let me guess," I began in a rather dry tone. "The thing owning that shop wouldn't take any detaries, and you couldn't work your Jedi magic on him." The look I got was pricelessly irritated. Yet instead of a lecture from the Jedi, I simply received a sigh and a shake of the head.

"No, he wouldn't, then laughed at me wondering if I was a Jedi with waving my hand and attempting to influence him." At that, I simply sighed.

"What about selling superfluous items off the ship?" Came a quiet, almost in audible question from behind us as we continued walking along the street.

Turning to face Padme, since I was sure Qui-Gon hadn't heard it, I addressed her directly for the first time since the restaurant earlier in the afternoon. "What was that?" I asked simply with no inflection in my voice whatsoever.

"receiving a huff from her in reply, she simply ignored me and repeated the question. "What if we sold things that we didn't need for this trip?" Seeing our continued silence at the question, she continued, "there are a lot of things aboard that are completely unnecessary for our journey to Coruscant. We could sell the items that are of little importance and barter for something that thief will be willing to accept."

Turning to face Qui-Gon, I could tell that he was giving the idea a decent amount of thought. The problem was that at the moment, he was the only one aware of how much we needed. It was something that needed to change. "How much was he asking for?" I asked curiously as we began heading down a deserted alley for a semblance of privacy. Flashing Padme a small smile of thanks for the idea, which was promptly ignored, I continued. "A royal transport should have all kinds of fancy things that are super valuable, right?"

Qui-Gon merely shrugged at the question, saying, "Allow me to make a call, see what Obi-Wan can find for us to trade." Nodding at the idea, I simply found a space where we were to sit and wait while he contacted Obi-Wan to find something to sell.

While Qui-Gon busied himself with his own conversation, I looked around at our little group as an old habit from back home. The feelings garnered from this group were very different than my team back home. The only thing that seemed to be the same was the entirely different backgrounds we had all come from. Jar Jar was clearly a klutz and in my opinion not too bright, R2-D2 seemed to be an animated little robot, but I couldn't tell what he was ever trying to communicate with others. There was obviously Qui-Gon, who seemed to remind me a bit of Professor Ozpin, with the vague statements and wizened demeanor. Myself, who was the total outcast and outsider in a group of outsiders. And finally Padme, who had carried an air of disappointment and loss that I hadn't seen since Blake thought that RWBY was failing to stop the White Fang from destroying Vale.

 _I am going to need to fix that bridge sooner rather than later_ , I thought with a quiet sigh. _It may have been something she needed to learn, but not like that._ I shook my head and chuckled quietly and mirthlessly as I continued that train of thought. _Not everyone had to deal with what you did you insensitive ass. It's like Yang and Ruby told you the first week you lived with them and Taiyang on Patch, "It's a huntsman's job to defend the innocence of life from the growing darkness. Without that innocence, there can be no hope."_ Smiling ruefully at the memory, I turned to her.

"Padme, can I speak with you for a minute?" I asked. She looked at me when I called her name, before scowling and turning away. Still, I pressed on, "I just wanted to apologize about my behavior earlier this afternoon." At this I received her attention. _Now to see if she can forgive me crushing her dreams,_ I thought. Aloud I continued, "It was wrong and I allowed what has happened to me personally to cloud and lower my opinion of other beings, regardless of race. I hope to Oum that things work out the way that you hope, but I did not want to see you crushed just when things seemed to be looking positive in your favor. I've seen things change on a dime." At her confusion I corrected the metaphor, "Sorry, turn on a Republic Datary."

As I finished, she looked away, seemingly lost in thought. While she was thinking, I turned my attention to Qui-Gon and Jar Jar, who seemed to be wrapping up their own conversation as Qui-Gon said, "Not likely, we have nothing of value. And that's our problem." Turning to both Padme and myself, he gestured for us to follow as he said, "Come on, we must head back to the ship. It will be dark by the time we get there anyway at this point."

Padme and I followed, with Padme seemingly lost in thought about my apology. She had yet to say anything to me. While we followed, our more idiotic member decided that he wanted a snack, and I could only sigh and reach for my pistol as I could see what was going to happen with my Semblance. Sure enough, an alien said something to him that caused him to spit out whatever poor creature it was that he wanted. It flew for about fifteen feet before landing in someone else's lunch.

The Alien was understandably pissed off and immediately jumped our companion. Before anything untoward could happen, I calmly leveled my pistol to the back of the alien's head. Simultaneously a young voice called out to the alien as Anakin came walking up. The creature turned to him and they both seemed to speak rather condescendingly to one another.

As the argument settled down and the creature moved away, Qui-Gon walked back up to our little group that seemed to grow. "Thank you, my young friend, you seemed to have saved our companion some pain."

"Your welcome," the boy responded simply with a shrug. "Your friend was about to be turned into orange goo by a Dug."

 _Must be the race,_ I thought.

"An exceptionally dangerous Dug named Sebulba." Anakin continued as he began guiding us away from the marketplace to a small stall selling what looked to be fruits. He grabbed a couple and handed them to Qui-Gon, saying, "here, you'll like these." He seemed to pause as Qui-Gon put the fruits under his poncho.

He turned to the older woman, who began speaking in a world-weary voice, "Oh, my bones are aching. Storm's coming Ani, you better hurry on home." Hearing this he turned to us, more than a little concern in his voice.

"Do you have shelter?" he asked.

"We were planning on heading back to our ship," Padme stated quietly.

"Where is your ship?" he prodded, seeming to be very exasperated about something.

"About a two hour walk outside of town," was my reply.

"you'll never make it there, sandstorms are very, very dangerous." He stated rather emphatically. I couldn't blame him, having experience sandstorms myself outside of Vacuo on my first mission away from beacon. It wasn't something that I wanted to repeat. The sudden thought of home hit me harder than I thought and further soured my mood as we followed Anakin to what I assumed would be a safe place for us to ride out the storm


	3. Chapter 3

A Long Way from Home

Chapter 3

After following the young boy for probably twenty minutes, we arrived at what I could only describe as a long, low, row of cramped townhomes with the wind and sand biting at our clothes and any exposed pieces of skin. Anakin marched right up to a door about halfway down the row before pushing a button and heading inside out of the intensifying wind. As quickly as we could, we all pressed inside.

There, we found an older woman with shoulders that seemed to sag with the weight of the world. I could only assume that she was related to Anakin as she carried the same bright blue eyes that time and what I could only assume had been a life of slavery could not dull.

 _Proud woman,_ I thought with a hint of pride. _She still holds herself as if she has retained her dignity and is proud of what she is able to accomplish despite being in such a state. She reminds me of a few folks back home._

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn," Qui-Gon stated as Anakin asked Padme if he wanted to see his droid and dragged her off to another part of his home. "your son was kind enough to offer my companions and I shelter from the storm." She looked to both Jar Jar and I as we introduced ourselves.

"Mesa called Jar Jar Binks."

"Nathan Beixiong, at your service."

"Shmi Skywalker," she replied with a slight tilt of the head that was almost unnoticeable to someone who was not used to being looked down upon their entire lives. It made my blood begin to boil. "That is quite typical of Anakin, he does what he feels is right without thought of reward or retribution," she stated with a small smile and a measure of pride in her tone.

"We are grateful all the same," Qui-Gon continued. "is there a place where we might sit and talk?" He asked, glancing around the small, cozy room. "I have a few questions regarding life here in general since I've never been to this planet before."

"Is there a spot I could have some privacy in?" I asked a short time later, surprising everyone at the table as I had yet to speak since introducing myself. "Sorry," I apologized slightly abashed at startling everyone, "it's just been a long day and I feel like I am going to pass out in my chair." Shmi simply smiled and nodded.

"There is a small bedroom up the stairs." She said with a motherly tone, "Anakin and I rarely use it since we have our rooms on the main floor here."

Nodding my thanks, I began to slowly make my way there. Sitting down on the low bed after closing the door to the hall, I held my head in my hands as everything that had happened began to overwhelm the little control I had over my hysteria at being not just on a different continent, but an entirely different world with people who were reluctant to trust me, with good reason. _I mean, seriously,_ I thought with a snort; _who wouldn't be suspicious of a total stranger that showed up out of nowhere, armed like I am and spouting a story of me being from a world where animal exist solely to kill Humans and Faunus, with special abilities that I have no way of getting back to nor any knowledge of this "Galactic Republic" that seems to be the ruling body of an entire GALAXY!_

I chuckled mirthlessly as my rant continued; taking on a bitter, melancholy tone. _Worst part is, I have no way of getting home. I don't even know if I'm in the same damn dimension as my world. I don't think Raven really knows what her Semblance is fully capable of._ Tears began to water the floor of the room as my thoughts turned to loved ones, _on that note, even if I can get back, how long will that take? Oum, how are Yang and Ruby going to take this when they find out that I am nowhere to be found on Remnant at all?_

A bitter sob escaped my throat as I thought about how Yang would take that news. _She'd never get past it,_ I thought with a bit of pride, but more sorrow. _She'll hold that torch for me for her entire life and not move on with her life. If anything, the fact that her own mother was the cause of my "death" might just break her. It might be even worse than when Blake left right after Beacon fell._

I lay down as the weight of everything began to settle and I was left feeling hopeless and more than a little afraid of what the future had in store for me. I drifted off to sleep with the thought of my team, hoping that they were able to get away from both Cinder and Raven after I had disappeared.

I awoke with a start, and had my pistol, _Heping,_ halfway out its holster before I realized who it was that had woken me up. "Oh, Sorry Padme." I said as I holstered _Heping_ and sat up completely, turning to face the frightened, and frankly depressed looking girl. "I forgot where I was for a moment." The look I received was almost completely apathetic. Showing her own fatigue and depression at my rather insensitive handling of her world view.

"It's alright," she stated tightly, as if attempting to firmly control her own emotions. "Shmi asked me to wake you, dinner is almost ready."

As she turned to leave, I called out to her. "Wait." Surprisingly, she paused halfway out the door and turned to face me. "We need to talk," I continued once I had her attention.

"About what?" she asked rather icily,

 _Good, she's still mad at me,_ I thought with a satisfied grunt. _She isn't completely lost yet._ "about what I said to you earlier this afternoon, and how you are going to react to it."

She sighed and stepped fully into the room, shutting the door with a tad more force than I thought was necessary. "What would you like me to say, Nathan?" She began with a rather flat tone. "That you are right and that my people and planet are doomed to be slaves at the hands of the Federation?"

"No," I began quietly, "I simply was baffled by the fact that you believe that a democracy actually can work and help those who cannot help themselves." At her utterly disgusted look, I continued before she could get started on what I assumed would be an epic rant. "I do not mean to condone any actions taken by tyrants and dictators, but I do believe that governmental bodies that contain representatives of so many people, cannot function for the betterment of society; if for nothing else than being unable to make even a tenth of the population happy in terms of governmental oversight."

At my words, she paused with her mouth half-open, as if to fire a rebuttal before my words sank in enough to get past the anger that was directed at me. "What do you think the best way to govern people is, in your experience?" she asked, her eyes filled with contempt at what my opinion would be. "you must have one that you think is effective since you clearly have an opinion."

I nodded, saying, "my world has many different types of Government, but the one that I have seen be most effective, is something along the lines of small clans that are led by a chieftain of sorts." A snort escaped her, but I ignored it and continued. "these chieftains would be chosen by the clan, and would represent their people directly; only really meeting with other clan leaders in times of crisis, or for disputes between members of their clans so that common laws could be put down before returning to their people and leading in the way they deem appropriate."

"Actually," I stated after a short pause. "it is rather like the style of governance that is employed by your people. A ruler is elected, but has practically unlimited power for the period they spend in office. Clearly yours is done on a larger scale, but the concept is the same."

Her mouth again stopped halfway open before she closed it and contemplated what I said. "You actually approve of how my people are governed?" she asked after a minute or so. Seeing my nod, she continued, "but what can I…" she began, before correcting herself, "what can the queen do if not petition for aid? Looking at what you have said she is attempting to do just that."

Quirking an eyebrow at the slip, but deciding to ignore it for now, I answered. "She is doing the right thing, I simply wanted to point out that because the 'chieftain' of the Republic is actually the Senate; very little may come of petitioning them for help. I simply wanted to alert you to the notion that not everything would go your way."

She seemed to think about this for a moment, before nodding her acquiescence to that statement. "And if things don't go in our favor?" She asked, as if afraid of the answer.

"War," was my simple reply. "An enemy has wronged you, and refused to acknowledge the slight." As I finished I looked to her again, and saw that her face was rather pale. "Come on," I stated, trying to distract her from such heavy thoughts. "Shmi has dinner for us."

Arriving downstairs in the kitchen, we found the rest of the group seated around the table, with two seats available and Shmi walking around serving the group. While Padme took a seat at the head of the table, I grabbed the empty plate that I had seen on the counter and casually leaned against the wall behind Anakin and off to his left. When Shmi moved to protest, I simply said "The place of a host, is with their guests, not off to the side to be ignored. Besides, while I am travelling in their wonderful company, I am more of an outsider than you realize."

Seeing my determination to remain on the wall, she nodded and poured drinks as the topic of the rest of the table turned inevitably to slavery. Eventually, Shmi joined the conversation. "All slaves have a transmitter placed somewhere inside their bodies." She stated when the question of escape was brought forward.

"I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine," said Anakin with a pride, and a little trepidation as his mother continued

"Any attempt to escape…" she began, before Anakin finished the sentence for her.

"And they blow you up!" He exclaimed while he slammed his hand to the table.

My blood ran cold just thinking about it, and I began to understand why Anakin was so emphatic earlier in the shop when he talked about returning and free all the slaves on the planet. My attention was brought back to the conversation as Shmi cut Padme off somewhat harshly. "The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own."

The silence was cut by my rather heavy sigh, right before Jar Jar shot his tongue out and took one of the fruits sitting in a bowl on the opposite side of the table from him. After he apologized slightly abashed, everyone turned their attention to me.

"How are you able to do that?" he asked rather bluntly. Pointing towards Jar Jar, he continued, "you always seem to know what he is going to do before even I become aware of it through the force."

Seeing that I wasn't going to get away from the questions as all eyes were on me, I simply sighed. "It is something that I don't usually tell most people." I responded, looking dead in the Jedi's eyes. Seeing the determination there, I decided to continue. "On my world, we call it semblance. A gift that is unique to each and every person, but is only unlocked through determined and difficult training of their Auras."

Seeing the confusion around the table, I elaborated. "Aura is what we consider the physical manifestation of the soul." A slight scoff came from the old Jedi, but I continued anyway. "we can use this 'Aura' to enhance our muscles, strengthen our bones and organs to prevent physical trauma, it can even act as a literal shield that protects us from harm despite being knocked through buildings like my girlfriend has on multiple occasions." I stated with a slight chuckle at some of Yang's antics.

"Anyway, Aura is only unlocked by those who fight the Grimm, since physically we are much weaker than even the smallest of them. But a Semblance only manifests itself after intense Aura manipulation training, or even the stress of actual combat." Looking around I saw that everyone was looking contemplative, while Qui-Gon looked almost hungry at what I was saying. "my personal Semblance isn't something that I can control. It allows me to see what everyone within a certain distance from me is physically going to do about 3-5 seconds before they do it."

"Interesting," Qui-Gon finally said after about a minute of awkward silence. "And you said it was 'passive,' so to speak?" I simply nodded in reply, before I realized that I had never been given an answer to a question I had asked earlier that day.

"Qui-Gon," I started. "Earlier when you read my mind, you promised me an explanation about what you were looking for." At the implied question he paled, before responding slowly. "That conversation is best left for another evening, Nathan."

"I can be patient," was my reply. "but I would like an answer eventually. I will hold you to your promise old man." To this he simply nodded.

"Has anyone ever seen a Pod race?" Anakin asked after about thirty seconds of everyone focusing on their food.

While Padme and I shook our heads Qui-Gon answered, saying, "they have Pod racing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."

I looked at Shmi, who paled as Anakin stated, "I'm the only human who can do it."

"you must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods." Stated Qui-Gon plainly. Shortly after, he caught the motion that I made towards Jar Jar just before he attempted his fruit grabbing technique. Qui-Gon's hand shot out and grabbed his tongue as he stated in a warning tone, "Don't ever do that again," looking the amphibian dead in the eye.

Jar Jar simply yelped in response before apologizing.

"You're a Jedi knight, aren't you?" The question brought our group up short as we all looked between Qui-Gon and the pretentious 9-year-old to his left.

"What makes you think that?" Qui-Gon asked cautiously.

"I saw your laser sword," Anakin replied. Which brought me to look Qui-Gon in the eye with an eyebrow cocked in an unvoiced question. At his dismissive gesture of later I simply shrugged and went back to listening to Anakin as he said, "Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon."

"Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him," Qui-Gon ventured boldly. Which Anakin dismissed immediately.

"I don't think so," was his dismissive reply. "No one can kill a Jedi," he claimed rather emphatically.

This response caused me to begin coughing as I inhaled water at the rather ridiculous statement, covering Qui-Gon's quiet, "I wish that were so."

Continuing, Anakin said, "I had a dream that I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves."

 _Well now we know where he got the idea for that,_ I thought as he and Qui-Gon continued talking. _It's a shame that he probably isn't going to ever be able to actually live that one out._ I thought bitterly. _That kid is an engineering and mechanical savant. Watto is never going to let him go willingly._

My thoughts ran along those lines for a while as Qui-Gon and Padme explained what they were doing on a planet that was apparently so far from their destination.

I returned to the conversation as Padme said, "These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind."

"Gambling," Shmi responded for the first time in a while. "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Pod racing," Qui-Gon confirmed. "Greed can be a powerful ally." He stated with an expression that spoke of long experience.

"I built a racer," Anakin stated, bringing himself back into the conversation. "it's the fastest ever. There's a big race in a few weeks on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod." He stated, to the obvious horror of his mother.

"Anakin!" She exclaimed, "Watto won't let you."

"Watto doesn't know I've built it." Was his only response, which made me grateful for lazy owners as Anakin continued, "You could make him think it was yours and get him to let me pilot it for you." At this his mother paled under her tan.

"I don't want you to race. It's awful, I die every time Watto makes you do it." She stated fearfully. I couldn't help but agree with her.

 _Why am I not surprised?_ I thought bitterly. _Slave owners not caring about what they consider expendable capital._ That thought made me sick. "Excuse me," I said aloud as I made to put my plate away and headed back upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Anakin asked as I reached the first stair.

"Slavery as a fact of life is not something I can handle at all." Looking to Shmi, I continued, "I've been in your shoes and I will tell you that I will fight for as long and hard as necessary to remedy that." With that last comment, I headed upstairs and closed the door to the spare room.


	4. Author's Note

Hey y'all, figured that since I was three chapters into this thing it was time to introduce myself a little bit. Really I just wanted to let you know that since this is my first real fan fic reviews would be greatly appreciated. Seriously. I would love some feedback. Anyway, thanks for making it this far, kinda surprised its been see as many times as it has. Again, thanks!

Flaeus


	5. Chapter 4

A Long Way from Home.

Chapter 4

The next morning started off interestingly enough. I woke up still feeling drained and discouraged from the conversation last night, but quite enjoyed the warmth coming from the body curled up on my bac… _Wait,_ I thought as the last of vestiges of sleep fled to wherever they go when people are awake. _Who came in and curled up on the bed with me? I didn't think anyone would be willing to do that after my rather rude departure from dinner last night._

After about 30 seconds of wondering, I finally decided to roll over and check to see who had the audacity to threaten waking the bear. _Ha-ha, you're funny Beixiong,_ I thought wryly. _Should have been a comedian._ Spying who else was on the bed, I couldn't help but chuckle softly while still being slightly confused. Both Anakin and Padme were curled up together and had pressed almost completely against my back in their sleep to get as much body heat from me as possible.

"Huh," I wondered aloud. "Never thought I would ever see someone other than Yang in that position." The thought brought a sharp pang of longing, while my voice vibrating my chest and side began to rouse Padme. I couldn't help myself as she slowly woke up. "Good morning princess," her eyes shot open at that. Causing me to chuckle while continuing. "Didn't think that you wanted me around that much." At this she finally whirled and looked me dead in the eye. Her eyes dark with rage while my gaze communicated quiet amusement.

"For your information you nerfherder," Padme hissed, "This was the only other place to sleep." At my cocked eyebrow, she continued. "Qui-Gon took the couch after offering it to both Jar Jar and I, Anakin offered his bed to me instead, but was afraid to come in here alone with you after your little display at dinner."

At that, my expression fell. "I wasn't trying to scare him." I stated contritely, "But slavery is one thing that I cannot abide; and speaking about it like it was an acceptable fact of life made my blood boil and stomach turn."

Turning to Anakin, I scooped him into my arms as I got off the bed. Looking to Padme as I headed toward the door, I explained. "I have a sister who was about Anakin's age when I last saw her before I left for school," I stated quietly. "I've always liked kids and would help Yang and Ruby with some of the younger neighborhood kids when I could." I smiled at the memory. "they would use me as a jungle gym a lot of the time. I loved it."

As we made our way down the stairs, the light jostling woke Anakin enough to realize that someone was carrying him, and that that someone was a lot larger than his mother. Sitting up off my shoulder, he looked at me with his mouth open in disbelief that I was actually carrying him back to the kitchen. My only response was to wink at him and keep moving like nothing was happening.

As I entered the kitchen, Shmi and Qui-Gon both looked up from where they were sitting and smiled at the image of Anakin with my arms and Padme following behind. "Have a pleasant surprise when you woke, Nathan?" Shmi asked quite cheekily.

"These two stole all my body heat," I jokingly growled. "Woke up because I was freezing," I finished with a grin.

At this Padme just rolled her eyes and blushed, while Anakin beamed at his mom. "So," I began, looking at Qui-Gon as I placed Anakin on his feet, "what is the plan for the day? I assume y'all figured out what the plan was last night after my err… exit last night," I finished sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my neck.

Qui-Gon just shook his head good naturedly. "Forget it Nathan," he started. "both Anakin and Shmi decided for us that the only way that we are going to be able to get the parts is to gamble for them on the Boonta Eve Pod race." At this, I just stared as if he had stated that the planet was flat.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked, feeling completely baffled. "I don't think I heard you right. You want to place our faith in a 9-year-old boy." Looking to Anakin apologetically for a moment, I could see his face fall as he left the room. I turned back to the elder man. "And despite the fact," I continued, steel in my eyes again as ours met, "that I have faith in his abilities, do you really think he can win against beings far more experienced than himself?"

At this, Qui-Gon bristled, "Dot you think I would rather find a different way to do this?" He asked, frustration lacing his tone. "IF I could find another way for us to get what we need I would, but the Force has given us this path, and we must walk it."

At this I merely snorted. "Right, the Force," I said, contempt dripping from my voice. "Because you have an all-powerful force that only you can hear and manipulate." I simply shook my head. "This may be what you decide, but I am not going to let something else dictate my life." With this I stormed out of the room in frustration.

Feeling like I was about to explode, I knew that I needed something to help me clear my head. _And I know just the thing,_ I thought with a rueful smirk. Heading to the roof, I stopped by my room and grabbed my harness and gear, knowing it had been a while since any of it had been cleaned. That, and I was sure that the fall yesterday coupled with the fight I had been in had surely left something that needed cleaning.

Reaching the roof, I sat cross-legged and spread out the pillowcase I had snagged out of my room. Now with something that would keep any more sand out of my weapons, I began slowly pulling weapons out of sheathes. First came both _Ai_ and _Zhanzheng,_ my main combat knives that I had forged myself in my time at Signal, followed by _Heping_ , my .45 caliber pistol that Nick had given me after being accepted into Beacon.

Thinking about the oldest living Schnee brought a sad smile to my face as I remembered the kindness the man had always shown my family throughout the years, especially after his snake of a son-in-law had gained control of the company and basically stripped Faunus of all civil rights in Mantel. That thought in particular brought a scowl to my face before it faded after thinking about both Winter, who was a year older than I and who I considered a close friend; and Weiss, who was Yang's teammate and a close friend to Ruby.

That dragged my thoughts to the two girls, which began to bring tears to my eyes as I continued to unsheathe knives from there various places on my body until I had 12 knives and the rather large handgun spread out on the pillowcase.

 _Get a hold of yourself Beixiong!_ I thought bitterly as I wiped my eyes so I could see clearly. _You are a Huntsman! Trained to fight and kill monsters that would otherwise destroy both Humans and Faunus without remorse or mercy._

 _Yeah,_ I thought as a bitter sob escaped my throat as I went over the various knives, checking for rust, dirt, and double checking the edges before replacing them into their assorted sheathes. _One who is Oum knows how far from home with no way back. Surprised that Ozpin didn't have a class on this. Probably would have named it 'Expecting the Unexpected: What to do when you get transported across the Galaxy!'_ that brought a rueful chuckle out of me as I began to carefully disassemble _Heping._ It was a beautifully crafted weapon and amazingly rugged, but always seemed to be really finnicky after I walked or sometimes limped away from a fight with Raven.

Raven. That name alone seemed to bring me out of my melancholic mood and into an uglier emotion. Pure, unadulterated rage. "The next time I see that bitch," I growled out, unable to keep silent. "I am going to pin her down with her own damn sword and let Yang work off some steam before I send her here without any way home. See how she likes it!"

With that last thought I snapped the final piece of _Heping_ back into place before racking the slide and holstering the weapon and turning toward the door, intending to get out of the house and work off some of my rage.

On my way out, I ran into Anakin, "Hey Nathan!" He beamed at me, "I'm taking Padme to show her my Pod racer, wanna come?" His honest excitement at seeing me despite what I said to him this morning cheering me up somewhat.

"I will in a little bit," I said with a smile. "Maybe you can show me how to help you work on it."

Hearing me offer to work on his pod with him lit the young boys face up. "You would?!" He exclaimed, "that would be so wizard!"

I just chuckled and turned to Padme, "I'll be back in a bit," I said with a sigh. "The old man is grumpy in the mornings." She just grimaced and nodded as I turned back to Anakin. "hey, if I wanted to find a place to get a drink, where would that be?" I asked.

"Easy," He said. "Do you remember where Watto's shop is?" At my nod he continued, "you take a left coming out of his shop and go straight for about half a kilometer before you see a small fruit stand. Take a left there and keep walking for another block. You should see a cantina on your right."

"Thanks, Ani," I said after committing the directions to memory. "I shouldn't be gone more than a few hours."

Finding the cantina, Nalotta's, wasn't hard at all. The question became what I was planning on even doing there. _So,_ I thought to myself as I found a quiet booth in the back. _Right now, I only have one of two options; wait and follow Padme and Qui-Gon around looking for handout: or try and find my own way which sounds like a good way for me to end up going nowhere for the rest of my life._ Honestly, neither one sounded appealing; on one hand I had to rely on charity, which I really hated and despised accepting. While on the other, there was me trying to find my own way in a place, no, galaxy where I had no knowledge of what was normal, and no way of finding my way home.

Unfortunately, I didn't see a single better option, and the one that scared me the least was sticking around Qui-Gon and Padme. _At least with them, I should be able to eventually figure something out._ I chuckled bitterly. _Maybe even get off this planet and start trying to find a way home._

"This seat taken?" a rather smooth voiced pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up and was more than a little surprised.

"Yang?" I choked out before taking a closer at the woman's face. Seeing her quizzical expression, I continued, "Sorry, thought you were someone I knew." I finished a little dejectedly.

"That's alright," she stated simply as she slid into the booth across from me. Looking more closely, I could see the slight differences between the young woman and Yang. Especially when she smiled before continuing to talk. "You new?"

At her question I chuckled a little before responding, "You have no idea." I said with a bitter chuckle. At her confused expression, I elaborated. "It's a really long story."

At my rather rude rebuttal she simply smiled cheekily and said, "I've got time." Slightly surprised at her determination, I stared at her dumbly before she chuckled and continued. "What, never had a pretty girl show interest before?"

"No," I responded slightly flabbergasted by her tone. "Its just been a while since someone has actually had the stones to try it. My girlfriend gets a little protective and can light up at a wink."

"Then where is the little spitfire?" she asked as she continued to sit there nonchalantly.

It was all I could do not to slump as a I responded. "Honestly? I have no idea." At her questioning look I continued, "she isn't the one lost right now. I am."

"lose your map home?" she asked a little teasingly, which only started to piss me off. "Or did you go on a bender too far from the farm and wake up in the middle of the desert?"

The rage that I had been holding back at the hopelessness of my situation decided that was the last straw and I could feel myself starting to lose it. "Look you ignorant little bitch," I started rather scathingly. "In the past twenty-four hours I have gone from a fight to the death with someone who makes me feel like I'm 4 in terms of skill and falling more than a kilometer out of the sky, to landing in an Oumdamned desert with no idea of how to get back home. So, if you would kindly cut the bullshit and leave me the hell alone we will both end up walking out of the bar. Otherwise, don't think that the sweet tease act has me fooled."

At her look of confusion, I just chuckled darkly. "don't try to hide it from me, you could lay out half the people in this room with both hands tied. You hide it pretty well, but I know a fifteen-year-old who is maybe a third of my size put me on my ass more than once." Now out of breath I just looked at her with a rather flat and frankly, tired gaze.

"Who are you?" was all she could ask after a minute of staring at me thinking.

"Someone who is done being fucked with." Was all I could muster in response before going back to my brooding. _Trying to ignore someone in a bar is much easier with a drink in hand,_ I thought with a silent chuckle as I waited for her to either leave or make up her mind to speak. Actively tuning to my semblance, I could tell that she wasn't going anywhere for a while.

"Look," I began after about five minutes. "I've had a hell of a day, so I'm going to make this easy for both of us." At the sound of my voice she took her eyes off of her hands and brought them to meet mine. "What do you actually want?"

At this, she just laughed which caught me off guard. It must have been all over my face, because she just gave me a look like I was the world's biggest dumbass. "seriously?" she asked.

At my expression she just sighed, then continued. "I came here for some company but the outburst and the brooding has me more than intrigued to stay and try to puzzle you out."

All I could do was snort and give her an incredulous look. "So, you came over here hoping to get laid, but decided I was still interesting after basically telling you to fuck off?" she just nodded, making me chuckle. "What the hell," I finally stated. "I'll bite, what's your name?"

She just grinned and signaled the bartender before replying. "I'm Eri'anya, but my friends call me Anya."

"Okay, Eri," I responded, and seeing her scowl at the name I grinned. "what brings you to this dust ball of a planet?" at her look, I just shrugged. "What? You don't dress like a local. Granted I don't have much experience with people here, local or otherwise."

She gave me a level look for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out my last statement before replying. "Took a job on a spice hauler a few years ago, this is one of our regular stops on our route." Seeing my look of disbelief, she continued "we had a few days in port since the ship I'm on needs repairs. We fought off a few different pirate attacks over the past week and frankly, both the ship and the crew need the break." That last statement brought both a look of relief and slight exasperation.

"Alright," I started. "That explains the why of you're here, but not the why you look like you could kill the bartender with just your pinky finger."

Eri just looked at me for a moment and I could tell that she was trying to figure me out in her head as to both how I knew she was a seriously trained fighter and a hesitation about what she could tell me without repercussions; which puzzled me until she began to speak slowly. "I'm… from a pretty martial culture."

I waited for her to continue but the rather guarded look I was getting from her told me that me asking questions was going to be necessary to get anything more from her willingly. "Is there something wrong with that around here?" I asked carefully in a low tone so that she had to lean forward to hear me.

Her look of bewilderment at my question just confused me even further, and it was starting to piss me off. "Look," I almost growled out. "this will be a lot easier if you just assume that I know nothing outside of these walls. You do that, and both of us are going to be much calmer after this is all over."

After about a minute of her staring at me, she just gave a resigned huff. "Fine, you play that way I can live with it. Just don't say I didn't warn you." At my expression she continued, "I'm a Mandalorian."


End file.
